It’s not every day that you get the feeling that you’ve been involved in history being made, I can count on one hand the occasions where I have felt like this;

• Seeing Sleaford Mods at Exeter Cavern in 2015 - Groundbreaking

• Seeing IDLES over the road at Exeter Phoenix in 2016 playing to about 50 people before they blew up - Incredible

• Watching PULP do their thang on a stage in Hyde Park a good few years back - Brit-pop-tastic

So there we go, 3 occasions where I felt like I was a part of something really important, I am going to put my neck on the line here and say that there is a fourth and that was at a recent show in Plymouth, the venue was The Junction and there were 4 bands playing, the headliners being a local alt/indie quartet called Colour TV, settle down and I’ll tell you more…..

I first saw Colour TV back in the winter of 2021, it was at the Nowhere Inn which is situated not far from Plymouth’s Drake Circus. The stage was rather small and owing to the shape of the pub, it was hard to get a good spot to watch the bands perform. Apart from the headliners (Crooked Little Sons), there wasn’t much else that moved me, there were a couple of other acts on which I watched via my peripheral vision whilst chatting to a friend who had made the trip with me. Colour TV took to the stage and immediately piqued my interest, they sounded fresh, exciting, nothing new but different to the hoards of bands out there at the moment, doing what they can to add more names to their mailing list.

The singer swayed around the small stage, clutching his microphone and reaching out to the audience who had woken up as soon as they struck up a tune. They reminded me of an early rendition of SUEDE or THE SMITHS and whilst it was obvious that both of these bands had played an important part in shaping their sound, you couldn’t help that there was something else there, something deeper, more involved that needed to be unpeeled, like a sonic onion, made of of many layers of skin and cells.

I caught up with Sam Durneen (singer from Colour TV) after the show and asked if he’d like to have a chat so I could pull an interview feature together, this was around the time of their debut EP ‘Is That You’ release and if you read the feature, you can see that most of the questions are around the recording process.

I also bumped not the band at The Great Estate Festival in the summer of 2022 where they played on the stage in Madame Wong’s House of Pain (It wasn’t called that but it was something similar!) Watching them on a larger stage illuminated them even more and I, for the first time, saw them as a band, working together on stage, their chemistry was electrifying, they were in sync, seemingly knowing what each of them were thinking and executing their parts to the millisecond to achieve maximum output for the healthy audience that had congregated in the tent to watch them play.

Fast forward to late January and I invited Sam and Jack from Colour TV to join me on my fortnightly new music show ‘musomusofm’ on Phonic FM, we chatted about many things including the forthcoming release of their new single ‘Christopher’s Halo’ which was set for release on 2nd Feb. I begged them for the world exclusive first play of the single but I think they had plans to get it played on Steve Lamacq’s show so I backed down. They were more than happy however to record a stripped back acoustic version of the song exclusively for me to play on the show so that was a real bonus that didn’t go unnoticed. The show was a real success, with us having to smuggle the duo out of the fire door of the basement in order to avoid the throngs of fans that heard that they were on the radio in Exeter.

They embarked on a ‘This Feeling’ tour around the country in early February and I saw that they were playing a homecoming show in Plymouth on 17th of the month, I was there, a ticket was purchased and I was off.

The venue was surprisingly full as I entered, Exeter based goth influenced band Wish Hounds were on stage, I wasn’t sure if it was a soundcheck or not so I got a drink and stood and watched for 5 minutes as they ran through a paired back number without a drummer. I think they share a drummer with a band called CUFFS and I believe that they were on a UK tour at the same time so this is maybe why they were sans drummer.

After a few more minutes of diddling and tweaking, they were ready and introduced themselves before launching into their set. These guys definitely draw influence from goth and post punk bands of the 80’s, the singer was also modelled on the same looks of one Robert Smith but dare I say was a LOT more attractive if you were to compare them side by side, age can be a cruel mistress! With the aid of a drum machine, they soared through their set, guitars were charged, baselines came easily from this young but very able band who I am sure will continue to do well in drawing decent crowds wherever they lay their hats. A new track called ‘Vera Lynn’ saw the bass and drums collide to paint a rich canvas which was awash with synthesised beats and a looped vocal backing. Another one fresh out of the oven was ‘Letters from Italy’ consisted of angsty guitars over a soft, more melodic baseline accompanied by a tight digital snare. The scratchy, echo laden guitar delivered the melody and a certain descriptive feel that could have seen it included on a movie soundtrack.

‘The Crucible’ was introduced, I was hoping it might have been a track about the famous Sheffield snooker hall where they film the championships every year but as the track progressed, there was no mention of ‘reds’ or ‘colours’ and certainly no mention of ‘snookers’ or ‘foul strokes’ so I don’t think it was. Instead, the track kicked off with a heavily modded bass sound which was set off against high pitched melodic guitars which conjured images of a child’s jewellery box complete with a dancing ballerina, like you see on the ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ style movies when you KNOW that something bad is gonna happen.

Sean from Colour TV joined them for their last number, I’m sure they simply announced it as ‘A Song’, whether this is its title or whether they were in a bit of a rush to get it played owing to over-running slightly. The song I later found out was ‘Thoroughbreds’ and was a rich, melodic, fast paced and catchy as hell number which is exactly what the other tracks in their set would have sounded like should Sean have stepped in for the whole set. Despite the lack of the drummer for the majority of the set, I really enjoyed it and chatted to the singer afterwards and offered them a slot on my radio show to come and chat, watch this space for more info.

Next up were an interesting band called eell1ot and the RKades, a grunge fuelled, almost hardcore styled vocals, I found out that Elliot is a solo performer and the RKades were a band that play with him from time to time.

Their sound was tight, full of some very heavy moshtastic breakdowns which saw a couple of refreshed punters giving it large in the pit. Highlights of the set for me included ‘Oh I Know’ which had more of an indie rock feel to it which isn’t a bad thing as it’s always nice to see band being as versatile as they can be and offering more than just one style. Another track that made my ears prick up was ‘Don’t Matter’, I may have heard the title incorrectly but it was one hell of a song with the entire band getting involved and ding a bloody good job of things too.

Enabling Behaviour were up next, a Falmouth based 4 piece with a very punk heavy vibe to their sound. They too had a great connection on stage and amidst the sea of feedback and fuzz that was emanating from the guitar amps, you could see that they were completely on point throughout their set. The guitarist mentioned that the last time they played in Plymouth, it was shit (he certainly wasn’t one to mess with his words), tonight was different, people were dancing, falling about all over the place, mesmerised by their tones and having a great time.

Heavy bass fused with tortured guitars, the dual male/female vocal approach really added an edge to things, enabling a completely different vibe depending on who held the microphone. The female vocalist had a very early Chrissie Hynde look going on, I liked this, it looked edgy, crisp and daring whereas many bands just fall in with the bog-standard torn fishnets, oversized army boots and the-dye top, she looked sharp, dressed in jeans and a waistcoat, she drew you into her world and certainly made an impact on me.

Spoken word, post punk themes and rat-a-tat styled guitars rounded off their set perfectly with the last couple of tracks really coming together to create a riotous groove that was very well received.

Finally, the time had come for Colour TV to take to the stage and show the others how it’s done. The bar was set high but I knew that after playing a bunch of live dates around the country, they were match fit and raring to go. Sam personified the spirits of Iggy. Ziggy and Brett into one earth bound vessel, he writhed, he jerked and he yelped into his microphone whilst the band gelled together perfectly to create one hell of a bed for him to play in. Jack’s monster sounding guitars were as fluid as ever whilst the bass and drums become one machine, churning out a tight rhythm for the room to lock into. Imagine if you would 4 Power Rangers, all with their own unique special powers that came together to form the big ass dude who goes around kicking everyone’s ears in with their sonic delights, that is Colour TV!

Sam mentioned that they had ben on tour across the country and having seen so many ‘shit holes’, he was glad to be back in Plymouth and recommend that it become the capital of the country, steady on now Sam, I think they have a little way to go before they start worrying London but I know what you meant! 

Their songs came thick and fast every one of them was rewarded with the entire room throwing it back at them, singing word for word, tracks such as Billy Pilgrim, Pavlova and even the recently released Christopher’s Halo were on par with anthemic numbers from the likes of OASIS and STONE ROSES in the impact they had. Their sound has progressed so much over the couple of years I have been following them and it is a sound that should not be confirmed to the sweaty pubs of Mutley Plain, these guys deserve to be heard in arenas around the country, to 5000 people at a time, something that I am sure will come in due course (be patient lads). Even the more laid back tracks from the set carried substantial weight, you could feel the undercurrent tugging away at your legs as the song builds and picked up pace. 

A track called Birds of a Feather saw melodic guitar paired with a tender Morrissey-esque falsetto , Sam with his arms aloft in a massive embrace drew lighters in the air, okay, smartphone torches but you get the sentiment. This was a lush, heartfelt, heart on a sleeve ballad which I am certain will become a future setlist dweller no matter how big they get. In Your Cathedral took us to a rockier, rawer place, showcasing just how far they have come and how much their sound has developed over time. 

Later in the set, Sam was stripped to the waist, ready to do battle, cavorting around the stage, teasing the front row whilst the place just sang along as if their lives depended on it. You could tell that he was lapping up every second of this with a wry smile breaking out on his face. From the get go, you could see why they were such a hit on the recent ‘This Feeling’ tour, there stage presence and confidence is magnetic, uplifting and enticing, three things that people want in a band and three things that Colour TV are happy to deliver.

With ⅔ of the audience joining them on stage for their last hoorah, the place erupted once again and after a few minutes of deciding what to play as their unofficial encore, they announced a track about a man being charming and not being able to go out as he didn’t have a stitch to wear (Sam asked me not to mention the song title it so I cleverly coded it into something that nobody will work out)….  

The 1970’s High Street giants Rumbelows saw the merit in Colour TV at the time, fast forward 50 years and here we are, telling you that before long, they will be a household name once again, mark my words!

Words by Steve Muscutt